When Norma Mbele walks into a courtroom, she is not just a spectator; she is a voice for women who have been silenced.

A survivor of rape herself, Mbele founded Tosunga Baninga, a non-profit organisation supporting victims of gender-based violence (GBV) and holding the justice system accountable. The name, Tosunga Baninga, comes from the Lingala language spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo, meaning: Helping you to help others. Norma said she chose a non-South African name to reflect the diversity she celebrates in her community. “I wanted it to show that our pain and our healing cross cultures and borders.”

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Her journey began after she stayed in a women’s shelter following her assault, an experience that left her disillusioned with how victims are treated by authorities and within the justice system. “I walked the journey alone, and I made the promise that no other woman would walk the journey alone.”

Norma noticed that, in courtrooms, perpetrators often had more supporters than the victims. Determined to change that, she began standing outside court buildings, holding cardboard signs with words of encouragement for survivors. Later, she and her volunteers wore t-shirts, printed with quotes from the court proceedings, making it clear that the victims were being seen and supported. This act of solidarity evolved into a form of visual activism using public demonstrations to make a statement.

In 2018, Tosunga Baninga recreated their first crime scene outside the Sebokeng Court, to honour a femicide victim named Nomatjala. With the family’s consent, the team used props and symbolic items to represent the scene. “Her mother had never seen her daughter’s body. When she saw the recreation, she almost collapsed, but it gave her closure. She walked into court and sat in the front row for the first time.”

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Since then, Tosunga Baninga volunteers have staged several such displays, often appearing in courtrooms with painted bruises and wounds symbolising those suffered by victims. “We carry the bruises of the victims so that women covering their scars under makeup know they are not alone.”

Her activism has not come without risk. Mbele’s home has been shot at, and she has received multiple threats, yet she refuses to back down. “Sometimes you fear for your life, but in South Africa, whether you fight or don’t fight, women are still being killed. So, it’s better to make noise and fight.”

Mbele’s work also extends beyond courtrooms. She speaks to communities, police officers, and health workers about the mental and emotional struggles survivors face, stressing that support must go beyond physical safety. “Shelters help you cope, but they don’t always help you heal mentally. I tried suicide more than once. I survived so I could hold another woman’s hand to heal.”

Despite her own pain, Mbele refuses to give up hope. “Every time I hear of another woman being killed, it triggers something deep inside me, but I know I must keep going, because every life we honour, every voice we raise, makes it harder for the world to look away.”

Through Tosunga Baninga, Mbele has turned her trauma into a powerful movement for justice… One that reminds South Africa that silence can never protect the oppressed, but solidarity just might.

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